From the Primary Care Alliance

As I write this month’s introduction, my thoughts are focused on the multidisciplinary team in primary care. Recently, I chaired a meeting of the Coalition for Primary Health Care (CPHC), which is a collective of key players in the patient’s medical home and health neighborhood. Our focus is on the provision of integrated multidisciplinary health care to all Albertans. We had thoughtful, engaging discussions and agreed on various priorities to focus on advancing. I continue to look forward as primary health care evolves in our province.

Speaking of evolving … government has released $12 million to the AMA to provide family physicians and rural generalists with support for costs related to panel management and practice improvement activities. This funding was announced in October 2023 as part of the release of the MAPS final reports and includes $57 million over three years for physicians participating in panel management. Physicians can visit the Panel Management Support Program page on the AMA website to learn more about the program [read more in this issue’s article below]. 

These funds for panel management, and the $100 million in federal funding that has been earmarked to stabilize family and rural generalist practices, are both very welcomed. Yet we know this will not be enough to transform primary care. The AMA has submitted a proposal to government that includes a new Physician Comprehensive Care Model that will allow physicians to provide the lifelong care Albertans want and need. The model will support the team environment and guide patients through every step of their health care journey. 
            
The AMA continues to run the SOS: The Urgency Is Real social media campaign to help government and Albertans to better understand the crisis in family and rural medicine. If you haven’t already done so, please add your voice to the cause. Record a 20-second video with the easy-to-use video tool. Just share your name, where you work and the impacts you, your patients and your practice are experiencing in this primary care crisis.

In closing, I would like to acknowledge and celebrate members of our health care team who are of Black Heritage as we commemorate Black History Month. 

Dr. Ema Gye
Chair
Primary Care Alliance

Declare yourself “in” for panel management support funding

The Panel Management Support Program (PMSP) is a temporary program, funded by Alberta Health, which provides eligible physicians financial support for costs related to panel management and practice improvement activities. Up to $10,000 per physician practice is now available to help manage patient panels. 
If you are eligible for this funding, you would have received an email on February 12 from Laura Matchett, AMA Operations Administrator. Please remember to complete the online declaration form via your Member Dashboard. 
If you have questions related to the PMSP, please email ciicpar@albertadoctors.org.

Got your CII/CPAR grant funds?  / $6.7M in grant funds still available!

$5.3M of the $12M Acceleration Grant has already been paid to physicians participating in CII/CPAR (Community Information Integration & Central Patient Attachment Registry). Sign up today and join 2000+ colleagues who are already live on CII/CPAR to automatically receive your funds. The grant is fully funded by Alberta Health. Questions? Help is a click away!

PCN Pain Rounds “Activity Prescriptions: Where to start when everything hurts”

Presented by the Calgary and Area Primary Care Networks, PCN Pain Rounds is a grand rounds-style webinar series for family doctors and multidisciplinary team members interested in improving the care they provide to people with pain. 

Join the webinar on Thursday, March 14 from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. as presenters discuss pain management and activity prescriptions.
 

Earn up to 21.0 Mainpro+® Credits virtually with the ACFP’s Family Medicine Summit

Save time and money without sacrificing on quality CME/CPD learning! Take in the same great conference and earn the same number of credits without the hassle of traveling!

With real time and on demand play back, access sessions anytime this weekend, or watch session recordings up until June 1, 2024.

Other news

HQCA now publicly reporting Hospital Care measures

Do you see patients and families who want to learn more about the quality of care and patient experience in Alberta hospitals?
Direct them to the Health Quality Council of Alberta’s FOCUS on Healthcare website.
In December, the HQCA added 16 measures on patient experience and delivery of care for the 14 busiest hospitals in the province. Smaller hospitals are reported as a group for specific measures. 
The website includes five years of historical data, with several measurements related to how care providers communicate with patients, help with pain, and inform on condition and treatment.
In addition to hospital care, FOCUS also publicly reports on what patients experience in primary care, emergency department care, home care, designated supportive living, and long-term care.
The FOCUS website aims to support quality improvement, and health literacy.

If you have questions, please reach out to info@hqca.ca.

AHS Ethics Lunch 'n' Learn Series

The next Ethics Lunch 'n' Learn sessions explore ethical considerations in care planning after a suicide attempt. These free case-based discussions are online and include a robust Q&A segment, so come prepared to put your hand up. Choose from two sessions:

• February 22, 11:30 a.m. to noon: Registration

• February 23, noon to 12:30 p.m.: Registration

Provide feedback on Alberta’s Pathway Hub

The provincial location for trusted, evidence-informed clinical, patient and referral pathways, the Hub is maintained by the Provincial Pathways Unit (PPU). Please explore the below pathways and email AlbertaPathways@ahs.ca if you have feedback.   
All pathways developed with the PPU are designed with partners like patient and family advisors, primary care providers, specialists, and other multidisciplinary clinical professionals. 
Provincial Spine: Low Back Primary Care Clinical Pathway: 

• The Provincial Spine: Low Back Primary Care Pathway is a collaborative pathway for primary care teams. The process has been built on the original Alberta Bone & Joint Health Institute Spine pathway and is the result of extensive co-design to support conservative management of patients with low back pain

• The accompanying patient pathway will mirror the clinical pathway. This pathway helps patients address whole-person health considerations for low back pain

Provincial Orthopedic & Spine, Adult Referral Pathway: 

• A new provincial referral pathway ensures the appropriate amount of information is included throughout the referral process, making triage as quick as possible

• Submit any feedback on this referral pathway (or others) here

Explore more pathways at albertapathways.ca. 

Curious about how to improve your referral experience for vascular surgery? 

Dr. Tim Weighman and Dr. Paul Petrasek will host an interactive webinar to review scenarios primary care providers may encounter and discuss how to access vascular specialty care for patients.  

• March 12, 2024, from 5 to 5:45 p.m. Registration

General surgery joined FAST province-wide on February 26  

General surgery joined the Facilitated Access to Specialized Treatment (FAST) program in Central, South, North and Calgary Zones. General surgeons practicing in Edmonton are already receiving referrals via FAST.  
FAST is a central access and intake program that receives surgical referrals and sends them to a specific provider/clinic/site, to a next-available surgeon with the shortest wait time, or an out of Zone provider.  
View the provincial general surgery referral pathway and the new provincial general surgery FAST referral form. Learn more about FAST. 

Are you interested in shared care planning with complex patients?

One:carepath is a provincial research study that takes a proactive and co-managed approach to care planning with patients who have advanced/decompensated/non-curative COPD, heart failure, cirrhosis, kidney disease, and stage three or four solid organ cancers.

The focus is on integrating supportive care in the Patient’s Medical Home. Learn more about participating in the study.

Submit your nominations for the 2024 ACFP Awards

The Alberta College of Family Physician's annual Awards program, which honours the outstanding contributions, leadership, and commitment of its members, is now accepting nominations for the 2024 cycle. Nominate a colleague who has shown exceptional work in family medicine. 
Nominations are due April 1, 2024. To learn more about the ACFP Awards or how to nominate a colleague, visit the website.

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